Rotary transmission



Sept. 5, 1933. R. G. GRlswoLD E1' AL ROTARY TRANSMISS ION Filed Jan. 15, 1929 SEH/97152725' ROBERT G GRlWOLD WNDER BGOLDSBOROUGH BY i Patented Sept. 5, 1933 vP-'l' ROTARY TRANSMISSION Robert G. Griswold, Westfield, N. J., and Winder E. Goldsbcrough, South Norwalk, Conn., assignors to Doherty Research Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 1'5, 1929. serial No. 332,706

- 21 Claims. (ci. i4- 97) The present invention relates to `the art ofl mechanisms for relative displacement either in the radial or axial direction, or both.

A considerable number ci mechanisms have been devised andr used with incre or less success for transmitting rotary motion between driving'and driven members subject to relative movement in a radial direction ory whose axes are inclined cr eccentrically oset. The great ina- 0 jority oi mechanisms proposed for such construcv tions, however, suiier treno theoreticalerrors and therefore are subject to high rates oidepreciation and costly upkeep. The problem has been intensified in the elect c locomotive, the most diihcult of alll such adapta tions, by the fact that the driving motors are necessarilyspring mounted with respect to the track wheels and therefore provision must be made for transmitting the high driving torque from the electric motors to the track wheels under conditions involving both radial and axial movements between the driving and driven members.

It is one oi the objects of the present invention to provide a iiexible mechanical transmission or coupling adapted for use on electric locomotives and which shall be and effective inl construction and capable oiy transmitting large amounts ci power under conditions oi eccentricity between the driving and driven members or oi radial or axial movements between such parts.

Another object oi the present invention is to provide a simple and reliable arrangement for the lubrication ci heavy duty couplings or transmissions.

In street railway or locomotive work, not only is there a large ci eccentricity produced by the movement oi the springs but the end play or axial movements oi the parts are often considerable.` It is a further object oi the present invention to provide arugged coupling or iiexible transmission adapted to accommodate itself to axial movements oi the driving and driven Vparts with a minimum of error.

Further objects and advantages oi the present invention will be rapparent to those skilled in the art from the following description. j Y

' An apparatus in accordance with t e present invention is illustrated in the accon'ipanying drawing; in which Y l ligfl is an elevational view oi an apparatus in accordance with the present inv ion, illustrating the entire mechanism as applied to an electric locomotive being taken on a'plane transverse to the track andrails;

lig;2 is a sectional view .taken on the line 2 2 of the Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. A

In the drawing, 18 is one rail oi a railway track on which rests the driver12 oi an elec@ tric or other locomotive. In the arrangement illustrated, the track wheel or driver 12 is operated by power from an electric motor 14 suitably suspended on the spring-supported traine of the locomotive, a portion of such traine appearing at 15. Power from the motor is transmitted to the wheel 12 through a pinion 16 meshing with a plate-like gear i8 which surrounds the axle 20 of wheel 12 and which iorms a part of the ilexible coupling or transmission embodying the present invention. In the form of apparatus illustrated inthe drawing, the gear 18 has xed thereto two bars or pistons 22, 22. The bars 22 of the gear 1.8 are of U-shape and, as appears more particularly in Fig. 2, thel bars 22 are arranged to extend radiallyoi the member 18 along a given diameter thereof, the radial portions of the barsv 22 together with their inturned ends, defining a plane including thev axis oi rotation of the gear or member 18. lt will be seen further that the inner ends of the bars 22 are offset from the center oi rotation of the gear 18, thereby providing space between their inner ends not only for an aperture to admit of the passage of the axle 20` of Wheel 12 through thegear, ,but also for an oil reservoir`24.' The purpose and arrangement of reservoir 2e will bevdiscussed further hereinafter.`v The inner ends of the bars 22 extend through the web oi gear-18 andare iixed to the gear by means of nuts 26, the nuts being placed on the oppositev side of the gear 18 from the bodies oi the bars 22.

The gear 18 acts as the driving member for the driver or track wheel-12 and the mechanism according to the present invention for transmitting the motion of thegear. 18 to the wheel 12 includes a platev 34 nxedto thewheel l2 by bolts 36, 36 or other suitable The plate Se has fixed thereto'a pair 01 U-shaped rods or pistons 38, 38, the rods 38 being positioned radially on the plate 3a on the side looking toward the plate or gear 18.` Rods or bars-88 `are xed radially on plate 34; inl the manner similarto that described in connection with bars. 22 on plate v18. The axial plane inwhich the radial bars 38 are placed, however, is subst'a *olly at right'angles to the axialplane including thefradialbars Y22. This relationship is clear irom Figs. 1 andV 2. For transmitting the motion between the plates 18 and 3a while permitting radial and end play movements, a pair oi seniicircular links-4l), llo are employed. `is illustrated linlrs 428 arejboth pivotally and slidablylmountedon the bars 22 and Vtheir ends are interloclred in ,hinge-like relation as indicated at i2 so that any sliding or yradial movement of one link involves `a like approximately in the plane oi rotation and parallel tothe plates 18 and 84. in order to transmit the parts of the apparatus.

the motion of the pair of bars 22 to the pair of bars 38, the links e() are provided preferably at or nearY their mid-sections, with pairs of ears 44, le projecting therefrom substantially at right angles to the plane of rotation and the ears on each link embracing a slide or sleeve member e6. Slides 4.6 are mounted one on each oi the bars 38. The ears 4.4 are pivoted to the slides 46 as indicated at 48, 48 the axes of the pivots 48 lying normally substantially parallel to the line of the pair of bars 22, 22. Furthermore, the slides 46 may swivel or pivot on the two bars 38, 38 to better accommodate end play and canting motions between the track wheel l2 and the spring mounted frame 15 of the locomotive.

in' order to facilitate assembly o the parts the hinged ends i2v of links ll0 as well asslides le are constructed to term split bearings. 1t will be apparent however that this is not essential since bars 22 and 38 may be formed in two or more parts for convenient insertion through the slide members.

it will be understood from the foregoing that the operation of the mechanism herein disclosed, permits the parts to operate while the axis oi the driving member is eccentric to that of the driven member. Radial movements oi the driving member, or the reverse, caused by spring or like action of the parts of the locomotive are accommodate by sliding the links i0 on bars 22, 22 or bars 38, 38 depending on the angular position of plates 18 and Sli at the times the eccentric or radial movements of the parts occur. End play and canting movements are accommodated by swiveling of links tl0 on the axis 22, 22 or 38, 38 as well as by swiveling at the pivots e8, 43. It has been found that the mechanism herein disclosed accommodates the abnormal movements or the parts just mentioned with a minimum of ktheoretical error or angular variation in the movement of the rotating parts, so that the spring movements and end play or canting movements of the locomotive produce substantially no abnormal stresses or shocks during the operation of the apparatus. The links 40 lying normally substantially in the plane of rotation of the bars 22, the rotational stresses are transmitted with a minimum tendency Ato cant or jam Furthermore, the links -40 form a symmetrical system which in rotating sets Vup a minimum of centrifugal stresses. The mechanism therefore is substantially balanced as to rotationalmovements and can be safely operated at high speed.

According to the present invention, the bearing surfaces of the coupling or herein disclosed are automatically lubricated during the operation of the apparatus. For this purpose, the oil reservoir 24 previously mentioned is provided near the center of the plate like gear 18 and a similar oil reservoir) is provided near the center of the plate 34. As shown in Figs. l and 2, the oil reservoir 2d lies between the U-bars 22 and the centre of gear 18 and the bearing surfaces on the bars 22 are connected by suitable oil ducts 52 with the reservoir 2li. Owing to the relative arrangement of the parts, the centrifugal force due to the revolution of the parts causes the oil to'ilow out of the reservoir 24v to the bearing surfaces kon rods 22 whenever the device is in motion. Similarly oil reservoir is connected to bearing surfaces on the,

bars 38 by meansV of ducts 54: appearing in Fig.

l 2,l oroil maybe conveyed to the bearing surfaces on bars 38 Vfrom oil reservoir 2e and the bearing transmission surfaces on rods 22 by ducts through links 40.

While we have disclosed herein in detail a specific embodiment oi the present invention, we do not limit ourselves thereto, but desire to claim the. invention broadly both for the purposes and objects hereinabove mentioned and for such others as those skilled in the art may find it to be adapted.

Although as shown the transmission mechanisin is positioned inside of the drive wheel of the locomotive it is obvious that it is readily susceptible of being placed in a vposition overhanging the drive wheel in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

l. A flexible transmission including in combination a driving element and a driven element, two radial bars mounted thereon for rotation therewith and set in axial planes forming substantially a right angle, Ya pair of links pivoted at both ends on one oi said radial bars and also slidable thereon, said iinks projecting away from said radial bar and being pivoted to the second radial bar on a line substantially parallel to the iirst radial bar.

2. A, transmission as set forth in claim 1 together `with a member slidable on the second radial bar and to which the links are directly pivoted.

3. A transmission as set forth in claim 1 to gether with a member both slidable and oscillatable on the second radial bar and to which the links are directly pivoted.

fi. A exible coupling 'for transmitting motion from a driving to a driven member comprising in combination, a bar mounted on one of said members and extending radially of the axis of rotation or" said member, a pair of links having both their ends pivoted on said bar, means forming a second radial bar mounted on the other of said members and lying in an axially extending plane making substantially a right angle with the axially extending plane including said iirst radial bar, said links being pivoted to said second radial bar.

5. A transmission as set forth in claim 4 in which the links lie normally in a plane of rotation.

6. A flexible coupling for transmitting motion from a driving to a driven member comprising in combination, means forming a pair or" pivots mounted for rotation on one of said members and extending in the same diametric line perpendicular to the axis of rotation, a pair of links, each oi said links having both their ends pivoted on said pivots and also mounted to slide thereon, the ends oi said links being interlocked on said pivots to slide together, a second pair of pivots mounted i'or rotation on the other of said members and extending in` the same diametric line perpendicular to the axis of rotation,

the centre of rotation of the second pair ci pivots being substantially at right angles to the centre of rotationl of the iirst-named pair of pivots, slides on said second pair of pivots and pivotal connections between said links and-said slides near i'he mid-point off the links, said pivotal connections being normally substantially parallel to said iirst mentioned pair of pivots.

'7. A flexible coupling as set forth in claim 6 and in which the inner ends of` the two iirst mentioned pairs of pivots are spaced from the'axes of .rotation of the respective members on which theyare mounted. f

ffl VI o f..

9. The liexible coupling as set forth in claim 6 and in which the two links are curved outwardly kaway from the axes of rotation and lie v normally substantially parallel to the plane of rotation. Y

1G. The combination of a driving member, a driven member, a pair of links mounted to slide and swivel about an axis radial to the axis of rotation of one of said members, a pair of slides mounted to reciprocate and swivell about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the other of said members, said links being pivoted to said slides near the mid-points of said links, the axial lines of said last mentioned pivots being substantially parallel to the axis about which said links are pivoted. j

l1. rlhe combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby said driving and driven elements can move parallel in planes at material angles to one another, and means whereby the lubrication of the bearing surfaces of said means is made inherent thereof.

12. The combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby said driving and driven elements can move parallel in planes at material angles to one another, and means in combination with said oscillation means whereby the distance between said driving and driven elements can be varied.v

13. The combination lin a 'power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby said driving and driven elements can move parallel in planes at material angles to one another, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby the distance between said driving and driven elements can be varied, and vmeans vwhereby the lubrication of the kbearing surfaces of said means is made inherent thereof.

i4. The combination in a power transmitting device of al driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby said driving and driven elements can move parallel in planes at material angles to one another, means inv combination with said oscillation means whereby the distance between said driving and driven elements can be varied, and means whereby the angularity of the axes of rotation of said dr ing and driven elements can be varied. A r

15, The com ation in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby said driving and driven elements can move parallel in planes at material angles to one another, means in combination with said oscillation means whereby the distance between said driving and driven elements can be varied, means whereby the angularity of the axes of rotation of said driving and driven elements can be varied, and means whereby the lubrication of the bearing surfaces of said kmeans is made inherent thereof. n

16. The combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means maintaining said oscillation means at material angles to one another, means whereby said oscillation means move parallel in planes, and means whereby the distance between said planes can be varied.

17. The combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means maintaining said oscillation means at material angles to one another, means whereby said oscillation means move parallel in planes, means whereby the distance between said planes can be varied, and means whereby lubrication of the bearing surfaces of said means is made inherent thereof.

l18. The combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means maintaining said oscillation means at material angles to one another, means whereby said oscillation means move parallel in planes, means whereby the distance between said planes can be varied, means whereby said planes may make variable angles with the axes of rotation of said driving and driven elements, end means whereby lubrication of the bearing surfaces of said means is made inherent thereof.

19. The combination in a power transmitting device of a driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centersof rotation thereof, means maintaining said oscillation means at right angles to one another, means whereby said oscillation means move parallel in planes, means whereby the distance between said planes can vbe varied, meansV whereby the angularity of said axes of rotation canbe varied, and means whereby lubrication of thebearing surfacesof said means is made inherent thereof. l

20. The combination in a power Ltransmittingy Vdevice of a'driving and a driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means whereby said oscillation. means move parallel in planes atmaterial angles to one another, and means whereby the angularity of the axes of rotation of said driving and driven elements can be varied.

21. The combination in apower transmitting device of a driving anda driven element, oscillation means crosswise of each of said elements in line with the centers of rotation thereof, means whereby said oscillation means move parallel in planes at material anglesto one another, means whereby the angularity of the axes of rotation` of said driving and driven elements can be varied,

land means whereby lubrication of the'bearing surfaces of said means is made inherent thereof.

' ROBERT G. GRISWOLD. 

